Listener Demographics
Been with you since The Hill and really appreciate the content you provide. You are my go-to podcast. During your year end show you scrolled a list of patrons. It was interesting to me that, by my take, upwards of 90% of your patrons are male. What are your demographics and is your viewership highly skewed male? If so, why? Do you think there is an underlying gender-based preference, one way or the other, in podcast listeners? From personal anecdotal observation, it does not seem to me that that there is bias on the part of listeners to prefer male or female hosts - it all comes down to content - which both of you provide exceptionally well. Just curious what you understand about your audience composition, and podcasts in general.. Joe Kubinec Hollywood, Maryland
How Can We Stop Two More Years of the Media's Trump/Biden Show?
It seems certain that Trump is going to run in 2024 against Joe Biden and Kamala Harris (or whoever). I was happy that mainstream media ratings were going down, but lately they've been adding in more Trump content and I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! The consequences of this on society are just too damaging. You guys focus on real issues like economic injustice but I am worried about this media cycle (which isn't new) going on and prolonging the change we need to see in society. I also think that Trump is in on it, being the tv man that he is. I am starting to lump Trump right in with elite democrats. Good tv and everyone profits. How can we truly STOP the mainstream media's destructive agenda and get more people to tuned into what is REALLY going on? I cannot take two more years of the trump vs. Democrat show... economic inequality is just getting worse. It's infuriating that the media is lifting up trump just so they can avoid talking about how their greed is killing people (and may have to let go of piece of their cushy lifestyles)... What can we do??
"responsible Story-Telling" in History and Journalism
I have been in the workforce for about fifty years. Its been long enough for me to have been poor, exploited, and underpaid, to have worked for millionaires, to have worked in public sector jobs and private. I have seen poor people shamelessly steal from their employers and from public assistance programs. I have seen the same manage to pull out of death spirals with the right assistance at the right time. I have seen wealthy business owners with several homes who play golf all day and then deny 25 cent raises to 20-year employees who can barely afford to pay for the gas to get to work. I have taken care of the children of wealthy people who required those children to work for their allowance. I have seen how generous they can be. I have seen people use something like a rent moratorium to buy curved HD TV sets while their struggling landlord goes bankrupt. You get the point. I have concluded that the line between good and evil (civic virtue and selfishness) cannot be drawn down the middle of some religious, racial, or income level demarcation. It goes down through the middle of all of us. I know in the teaching of History (what I do for work), I admire what I would call “responsible story tellers” – people who just call a spade a spade and don’t put their thumbs on the scale of blame and praise. You two seem to embody a lot of these ideals – the desire to be transparent and honest - in your work but I wonder how close you think you come and where you see the most room for improvement? Specifically, are you ever critical of the some of the things that the working class does for example? Do you ever argue that a government assistance program is not being helpful? Thanks for your time. Philip
Social Issues as a Distraction.
Krystal, a couple years ago on "that other show" you were asked what social issues you would compromise on to get the economic issues passed through. Your response was the only time I really felt like you were trying to dodge a question. As I've watched the politics of today unfold it's clearer and clearer that the establishment has very carefully positioned these social issues as a distraction and so I keep thinking back to that clip over and over again. My question for you is this: would you be okay with tabling social issues for a full term if it meant that Washington was forced to focus on poverty issues? Do you think that the social issues would iron themselves out a little when people aren't hungry and worried about basic necessities?